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CAF Story: How to make a Major

Transcript

If I look at the 19-year-old that was at the recruitment centre, at that time I felt a bit lost in the world. So serving my country for me, would be, being part of something that is bigger than you.

Well first of all the biggest adventure of my life was Military College of Canada. I had to learn how to be independent. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So I was like ‘combat arms, let’s go, I can do this, I’m a tough girl’, and it’s just that I have a really strong creative and artsy part of me, and I requested a trade change for Public Affairs, and this is what I’m doing since 2005, and I just love it.

My best experience in the Forces was my second tour in Afghanistan, in 2010/2011, I spent nine months there. I was writing articles in Afghanistan, I was escorting journalists; it was truly a great experience, a great learning experience. I travelled all over Afghanistan, I helped people, and I almost didn’t want to come back home.

I always knew that I wanted to have kids, how many, I didn’t know. I know there’s a lot of myths out there that it’s super hard to raise a family while serving your country, and from my experience, on the contrary. I was able to take preventive leave, what, two weeks ago. I’ll be able to stay a full year with the baby, and that’s incredible. So it’s just a perfect combination to build a happy, healthy, balanced family. There’s the fact as well that I’m married to a reservist. He can also plan his career around our family and what we want to do. I love my job, but there’s nothing like home: be with your kids, play with your kids, do the cooking in the middle of the day, this is priceless. Like I’ve been serving for almost 20 years now. I’ll be retired, I’ll be 43 years old. I can start a new career at home and I know that’s going to be possible, because I’m gonna have the pension that comes with it.

What I like about my journey in the military, is that it made me understand better who I was, my true identity, and just becoming something more.